Steam-trap



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No. 239,00L

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' N-PETERS, PHUTOvLVTHOGHAPHFR, WASHINGTUN, 0 C.

UNITED STATES 9 PATENT OFFICE.

` GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE, JR., OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

STEAM-T RAP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 239,001, dated March15, 1881.

Application filed January S22, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatl, GEORGE WEsTING- HOUSE, Jr., of Pittsburg, county ofAllegheny, State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered a new anduseful Improvement in Steam-Traps and I do hereby declare the fol- Alowing to be a full, clear, concise, and exact description thereof,reference being had to the accompanying drawings,making a part of thisspecification, in which-like letters indicating like parts- Figure 1 isa view, in elevation, of my improved steam-trap, and Fig. 2 is avertical sectional view of the same.

In both ligures the middle parts of the outside case and innerlloat-tube are broken away to reduce the length. The lengths ot' theseparts may vary according to the work to be done, in accordance withprinciples well understood in thearts. Assuming the drawings to show'full size, I would make the outer case about two feet long, more orless; but. the dimensions as to both length and breadth may be varied atpleasure, provided only the essential features of construction andoperation be substantially preserved. l,

My present invention relates to an improved construction ot'steam-trapchiefly designed for use in automatically drawing otl or discharging thewater of condensation from steampipes, steam-radiators, &c., either by acontinuous discharge or intermittently, as often as it accumulates inexcessive quantity, but without danger or liability of the escape ofsteam o 1 admission of air.

Myimproved device consists of a tubular shell, A, which may be made ofpipe closed at its upperand lower ends by caps or plugs A' A2. In thechamber AS thus made I arrange an inner oat-tube, B, tightly closed atits lower end by a plug, b, and for convenience of a steam attachment aplug, b, may be inserted in its upper end also; but a spider-frame orcrossbar may take the place of the plug; but for the present I willassume it to be atight plug. This iioat-tube has an outside length anddiameter a little less than the chamber A3, so as to leave a littlewater space beneath and around it, and alsoallow for a short range of'vertical or endwise motion.

To the upper end ofthe ioat-tube B, I affix a stem, a, which extends upinto a spring- (No model.)

chamber, a, wherein is a spring, a2, arranged on the stem a., and actingby its resilience or elasticity on the under side ot an adjustablescrew-nut, a3, so that-'the tendency ofthe spring will be to lift thelioat-tube. A port, c, through the upper plug or cap, A', provides meansfor the attachment of a drainage-pipe, c', and for the drainage ofwaterot" condensation into the chamber A3. j

ln the lower plug, A?, I make two drainports, c e', of which the one, e,is in or near the axial line of the tube, and opens at its lower endinto a chamber, c2, from which a pipe, c3, may lead to a return orwaste. The other port, e', made a little tolone side, passes downbeneath the chamber c2, and then rises and opens into c2, with its axialline coincident with the axial line ot' the port c. A valve-seat, s, ismade at the upper end of the port c, and another, s', but ot' a slightlyless area-,at the4 discharging end ofthe port e; then on awinged stein,d, which is secured to the lower end of the floattube, I arrange twopuppet-valves, o c', in such manner that when the oat-tube is down suchvalves will rest on the seats s s' and close the escape; but as thefloat-tube is raised both valves will be unseated, and Water ofcondensation will pass out at both ports c e. These valves c 'v' are sonearly ot' the same area and are so arran ged relative to thesteampressure that practically they are balanced valves. Thedownwardly-acting steampress ure, which tends to hold the upper one toits seat, is practically balanced bythe upwardlyacting steam-pressure onthe lower side of the lower one.

The spring a2 is to beso set by adjusting the screw-nut a3 that it willcome a little short of supporting the weight of the float-tube, or,

in other words, so that the lioat-tube will, by its gravity, keep thevalves c o to their seats, both as against the lifting-power of thespring a? and as against the lifting-power of at least enough water tokeep the valve-seats s s cov- IOO ing action of the water and springcombined shall overcome the weight or gravity of the oat-tube, and soraise it, and by lifting the valves o t open the ports e e. Water ofcondensation will then escape freely, but as soon as by such escape theamount of water around and under the Heat-tube has become so farlessened that the residue is insufiicient to float or carry that part ofthe weight of the floattube which the spring is not adjusted to carry,then the float-tube will sink or go down, and by seating the valves n owill cut off the escape. With another accumulation of water theHoat-tube will again be raised and thc operation repeated.

While I have thus, for clearness of illustration, explained the actionofthe devices as intermittent, it is also true that, if careful] yconstructed and adjusted, a'uniforrn water-level will be maintained inthe chamber A3, such that the valves o t will stand much or all of thetime at such open position that the escape of water will just equal theaddition by condensation, and the discharge will then be continuous.Also, for clearness of description, I have described the device B as ailoat-tube; but, mechanically speaking, it is simply a float. Instead ofbeing made hollow, it may be made solid; or, if hollow, it'may be filledor be allowed to lill with water.

I am aware that floats which are carried Wholly by the water on orinwhich they rest, and which, as they rise and fall, operate to move avalve, are not, broadly considered, new; but I am not aware of any prioruse of aoa-t of any kind which was carried partly by the buoyancy ofthewater on or in which it rested and partly by a spring 5 nor am I awareof any iioat which was arranged in any manner to operatea balancedvalve, and hence I believe these features of invention to be new withmyself. And itwill now be understood that the efiiciency of myimprovedapparatus, taken as a whole, depends chieiiy, in the first place, on theuse of a oat of such gravity that at the waterdepth at which its actionas avalve opener is desired it will be too heavy to be raised by thelifting-power of the water alone, and, in the second place, on thepartial balancing ofthe weight of the float by a spring and the carryingof the residue of such weight by the buoyancy or lifting-power oftheWater. The effective gravity or valve-closing power of the oat increasesrapidly as the level of the water is lowered by its escape; and thevpartial balancing ot its gravity'by a spring renders it an exceedinglysensitive device, as the water-level comes to or rises above the pointWhere the lifting-power of therwater andof the spring combined equal theweight of the float.

Ot' course, it will be understood that as the oat employed is increasedin weight provision must be made for the action of a higher watercolumnas a means of lifting it, or else the spring must be made stiffer.

I claim herein as my inventionl. A valve-actuating float carried at andduring its valve-opening action partly by the water on or in which itrests and partly by a spring, arranged for operation substantially asset forth.

2. In combination with exterior case, interior oat, Water-chamber, andsupply and escape ports, a stem, a, spring a2, and nut a3, for partiallycarrying the weight of the iioat, and balanced valves n fv, for openingand closing the escape or waste ports, all arranged substantially as setforth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE, JR.

Witnesses:

R. H. WHITTLEsEY, GEORGE H. CHRISTY.

